This invention relates generally to holders for maintaining beverages in a chilled state, and particularly concerns an arrangement for cooling the beverages either poured into the holder or held in containers placed in the holder.
It is often desirable to consume beverages such as alcoholic beverages and soft drinks when such drinks are in a chilled condition. Typically, these beverages are stored in a cooled area such as a refrigerator or ice chest in order to lower the temperature to that appropriate for consumption.
Normally it is desirable when consuming such beverages to maintain the beverage at a suitable chilled temperature.
Conventional rates of consumption of such beverages are usually at a relatively slow rate such that the beverages remain exposed to normal room temperatures for sustained periods of time. Consequently, the temperature of the beverage rises towards room temperature with a corresponding loss of desirability for the beverage. Several inappropriate alternatives are available in order to consume the beverage while it is at the desired chilled temperature. One may, for example, consume the beverage rapidly or return the beverage to a refrigerated area during the periods between consumption.
Another aspect of the increase of the beverage temperature arises from the handling of the beverage containers. Thus, for example, soft drink and beer cans usually require manual handling with a resulting increase in temperature of the cans and their contents. In addition to the temperature rise of the beverage in the cans, condensation developing on the exterior surface of the container is transferred to the person handling it. Thus, a corresponding nuisance due to the condensation being transferred to the hand of the user occurs.
Several prior-art devices are available which attempt to remedy the aforementioned problems. One such device comprises a foam-molded cup that conforms to the shape of conventional beverage and beer cans. Typically, a closed cell foam material that partially encircles the can is used in an attempt to reduce the rate at which the temperature of the beverage rises. Although such foam can holders reduce the heat absorption of the beverage, they are relatively ineffective over extended periods of time thereby limiting their utility. Another factor adding to the temperature rise of the beverage is the fact that conventional beverage container material is usually formed of aluminum or glass. These materials have a relatively high rate of thermal conductivity which even enhances the rate of heat absorption from the environment into the beverage.
Another attempt to provide beverage holders for maintaining a constant chilled beverage temperature is disclosed by Joseph Canosa in U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,330. Canosa describes a double-walled vessel that includes a sealed chamber containing a refrigerant which partially encloses a beverage compartment. The vessel includes an annular channel about the vessel base for catching condensation drippings and directing them to a storage chamber beneath the drinking compartment. The vessel employs in its refrigerating chamber a refrigerant which changes state upon being stored for an appreciable period in the freezing compartment of an ordinary refrigerator. The refrigerant is a fluorinated chlorinated hydrocarbon that changes state from a liquid to vapor at a temperature of between 20.degree. and 40.degree. F. The refrigerant is intended to maintain the beverage at a suitable temperature.
This type of structure suffers from several important disadvantages. The refrigerant is a liquid at room temperature becoming a solid after exposure to chilled temperatures (i.e., 30.degree. to 40.degree. F.) typically found in refrigerators and ice chests. Usually the vessels are formed of plastic. At room temperature, the cracking or fracturing of the refrigerant containing compartment as a result, for example, of dropping the vessel on a hard surface, causes the refrigerant to empty from the vessel. At such time the utility of the vessel in terms of a container for chilled beverages substantially ceases. Materials may be employed having fracture-resistant qualities, however, such materials provide excessive weight to the vessel as well as cost.
Furthermore, the device described by Canosa includes only a single chill-maintaining element in the coolant-containing chamber. Thus, Canosa must rely solely on the refrigerating ability of the refrigerant to maintain the beverage at the desired temperature. Such a single-element arrangement suffers from the inability to maintain the beverage held by the vessel at the desired temperature over a sustained period of time.
Another such device is disclosed by Moore in U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,226. Moore describes a refrigerated beverage holder for canned and bottled beverages. The holder comprises a hollow-walled container having a refrigerant disposed within the container's hollow walls. Another aspect of the Moore invention includes the refrigerant disposed within the side walls of a relatively thin wall bag. The bag circumscribes the interior of the holder and conforms to the outer contour of a beverage can placed in the holder. The refrigerant disclosed by Moore is water which is known to have a relatively rapid freeze/thaw cycle. Thus, this type of refrigerant is not capable of maintaining beverages contained in the holder at a desired low temperature for long periods of time (i.e., one to three hours). The disadvantages of such an arrangement are consistent with the prior art previously discussed.
The problems and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome by the present invention.